1998 Toyota Corolla suspension

DAHUD

MEMBER

1998 TOYOTA COROLLA

1998 Toyota Corolla 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

Have clunking sound in left front suspension. Have changed left front ball joint, right front bearing. Had alignment. Replaced both bearing plates. Still clunking even on small road bumps. Struts are not leaking & are connected good according to professional mechanic.

SPONSORED LINKS

Do you

have the same problem?

Yes

No

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 AT 6:43 PM

7 Replies

IMPALASS

EXPERT

Hello -

To better assist you please tell me if your vehicle is a CE Sedan, LE Sedan or a VE Sedan.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 AT 8:35 PM

DAHUD

MEMBER

ImpalaSS: In reply to your question, the car is a LE Sedan; forgot to mention that I also replaced rear motor mount.

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 AT 8:48 PM

IMPALASS

EXPERT

Hello -

Thanks for the info........I want to make sure we are on the same page.

The clunking sound is driving and started how long ago? Even like you said, small bumps.

I have pic attached to refer to.....since some of these parts are called different things; I want to make sure we are saying the same thing. For example, I will start with the right side....on a Maximum there is a strut mount bearing....but it isn't called that on this car. So I can make sure we are saying the same thing....please tell me by number what you replaced.

Right side you replaced what you call the bearing plate which is number 2 on the pic? Yes? And the bearing....which is which number?

On the left side you replaced the ball joint, and number 2. Yes?

We can discuss when you get back with me. My input.

I recent worked on a 1999 Nissan Maxima. Replaced the struts and upper insulators. The clunking noise was still there. I replaced every part except the springs......the clunking noise was still there. I replaced the struts a second time.....noise went away. These were Gabriel top of the line struts also....so I was into the front end 3 times in a week.

My suggestion is to replace all of the components, 1 (comes with the strut), 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9. The main reason is all of these parts play a part in the suspension and also have how ever many miles you have on the car....on them too.

The struts as you see don't have to be leaking to be bad...they are in constant movement. As you saw, two new struts above.

Last, I am sure the mechanic knows, but the final torque is with weight on wheels.

Now I would still look my mounts over really good...you replaced the one....but look at the others including the transmission.

After your review let me know what you think.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 AT 10:12 PM

DAHUD

MEMBER

ImpallaSS: In reply to you question: I bought the strut mount bearing plates, also called the towers, both sides; numbers 1, 2, & 3. My neighbor, a mechanic put them in. The next day the right front press on bearing failed; had that replaced plus lower motor mount & left ball joint. I replaced struts two years ago (30k miles), kept the same springs. The main noise is from the left front, but if either side hits a sharp bump (small pot hole) they make noise like someone hit the fender with a 10lb sledgehammer.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 AT 11:34 PM

IMPALASS

EXPERT

Hello -

If it were me as I said in the previous post.I would replace it all. Without being there to hear the noise etc of course makes it hard.

I can only tell you what I have seen and my experience. Again, the struts don't have to be leaking to be bad. The ones I changed were brand new. But I would change all of the parts as suggested.

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Thursday, December 25th, 2008 AT 10:56 PM

DAHUD

MEMBER

ImpallaSS: I did replace everything. It turned out that both front struts were bottoming out on slight bumps, but were rebounding fine. The passenger side half shaft cv bearings got hot & threw all the grease out, that was replaced. Those three replacements fixed it the klunking sound. The front end is now 4 inches higher than before.